Officer Friendly’s Mail Bag
Richie is away for a while, but in his place one of his pals, Officer Friendly, takes a look into the reader mailbag.
Dear Officer Friendly,
I was watching “Cops” the other day and they were arresting someone. How come it took five big guys to arrest one little dude ? Yah, he was fighting back, but it didn’t need five guys to pounce on him.
Signed,
TV Viewer
Dear TV viewer,
Nothing is ever as it seems to be, and nothing ever goes the way you might want it to. Once an Officer has made a determination to effect an arrest he is allowed to use all due force necessary to effect that arrest. This goes from the bottom of the spectrum, Verbal Commands; all the way to Display or Use of Firearm. Not all force levels are appropriate, naturally, it depends on the nature of the Offense.
Most Officers are average build and average height; some like “The Weasel” are large individuals, and some, like myself, aren’t. Therefore different force options may be called for in my case, as compared to “The Weasel”. Contrary to popular belief, Officers don’t want to use force. They would much prefer that people just follow their instructions. A fight will cause the Officer to get dirty and sweaty, he might tear his uniform, he also might get hurt. The Officer has to write a specific “Response to Resistance” report, and if the suspect gets hurt he has to be brought to hospital before going to jail. All of this takes time; and one arrest early in the shift could tie the Officer up for the full shift.
To avoid all this it sometimes takes 2 or 3 or more Officers to effect an arrest without having to beat the suspect into the next century; especially when the suspect is actively resisting and doing all he can to injure and or all of the involved Officers ! If you don’t think it’s difficult, I’ll give you a set of cuffs and let you try to take that large drunken biker gang member into custody ! Let’s see how well YOU do !
Then there is the potential for a Personnel Complaint. A PC is the gift that keeps on giving. Get too many of these, and it won’t matter if you’ve been cleared in all cases; the burden will fall on you to prove you DIDN’T use excessive force. Worse, you might have to go for “sensitivity training” or some other similar foolishness. After a while, many otherwise good cops go ROAD (Retired on Active Duty) just to avoid situations where a PC could eventuate.
The worst thing to happen is getting sued. Our society today is so litigious that people sue at the drop of a hat. It’s a sport that anyone can get into, and the occasional payout makes it worthwhile. Nothing aggravates an Officer more than having to go to Court over such a suit. Besides the damage to his reputation and the cost to the Agency, the Officer could be required to pay personal damages; up to and including losing his life savings or the house he has worked years to acquire. Which is another reason why Officers don’t want to use force unless absolutely necessary.
Finally, there are some individuals whose psychological makeup prevents them from doing anything peaceful. They have resisted any authority in their life for all of their life; and any encounter with Police tends to be violent. A dog signlas his intent by growling and putting his ears back; a snake will coil and hiss, a cat will arch its back and make cat noises; well, these fellows posture, mouth off, stamp around, and like a small child throw a tantrum. With these people there is no choice and force is the only available option.
Signed
Officer Friendly
Dear Officer Friendly,
The neighbors keep parking their car in front of my house. That’s MY parking place. I want you to give them a ticket and tow their car away.
Signed
Angry Lewiston Taxpayer.
Dear ALT,
Contrary to popular opinion the places on the streets in front of residences are not the property of the people residing there. The City owns the streets and a set-back from the street of anywhere from 2 to 10 feet. Where I live my street setback is about 7 feet. The city owns it, but I mow it and treat it as part of my yard. Looks better that way.
Any vehicle that is on the street legally may be parked in any appropriately available space. Obviously this precludes things like Fire Hydrants, or handicapped parking unless they have a placard. Your neighbor can park on the street in front of your house all he wants and there isn’t a thing you can do about it. If you don’t like that . . . move.
Signed
Officer Friendly
Betty Dravis said,
April 2, 2007 at 5:05 pm
Dear OF,
All you big/little cops look mighty lonesome back here, so thought I’d send you a nonsensical post to let you know eveything you wrote makes sense.
The law in San Jose––about people not owning the space in front of their homes––is the same here as back in Maine. I know because I once had a neighbor who continuously tried to stop my guests from parking in front of her house. What a grouch in that instance, but otherwise a nice woman.
Thanks for helping Richie out while he’s away. You read well! Now over and out!
Officer Friendly said,
April 3, 2007 at 12:05 am
Thanks Betty !!
Did you get the video Richie sent you ?
Tom said,
June 14, 2007 at 9:33 pm
But residents often employ countermeasures despite the fact that it is allowed to park in front of someone elses house. I heard of an area where the residents have a pact to lookout for visitors parking in “their” road. If a visitor parks there, 2 residents call each other and put one vehicle in front and another behind the visitors vehicle. When they return to drive away they can’t move as they are totally boxed in! Very nasty. After a few hours waiting the driver would have to go around the street asking residents who the owners were that boxed them in. After receiving lectures never to return to that neighbour hood, eventually, and after verbally apologising for using “their” street.The neighbours would amazingly appear and free the kidnapped car!
I’m sure if the driver ever did return this would escalate to vandalism, slashing the tyres etc. What can the police do to help a citizen being bullied in this way?
Fair Person said,
June 19, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Tom, I see nothing wrong with what the neighborhood residents are doing. If people want to visit you, then let them park in front of YOUR place, not mine. If people were more considerate, then the world would be a much better place. It is annoying when you have visitors and then must park a couple of streets down simply because someone want to go to the local bar or prostitute or drug dealer. Fair is fair, and if the person boxed in doesn’t like it, then let them park elsewhere. If the cops would enforce the laws we wouldn’t have the problems.
Officer Friendly said,
August 13, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Reference #3: Tom
This is a difficult situation since it seems that it’s always the most petty things that escalate into violence. Still, the people doing the blockading are absolutely in the wrong.
Now, I can Only speak about Lewiston. The nature of the Complaint would be “Harassment”, since that’s what the people are doing by parking so as to obstruct another person. I can run their plates through DMV and locate them quickly and easily, and tell them to move their vehicles.. They’ll tell their story about how it’s their street, and then I’ll explain who really owns those streets; and it ain’t them. If they don’t want to listen, that’s OK, 2nd offense will net them a ticket, and matters can escalate as much as they have the desire to make it go. OR They, can just move the cars and not do that again. Foolishness. Still, there are always a few people who will do this sort of thing.
Best thing to do, if you find yourself blocked in like that, jump on the cel phone and ask for an Officer to assist you as you are blocked and can’t move.